`Lucky Rose Golden` Apple tree

ABSTRACT

A new variety of apple tree which bears apples with a deep red blush on areas exposed to sunlight is disclosed. The new variety exhibit a blush on a greater percentage of its apples than the Golden Delicious variety. Typically the blush is darker red than the blush exhibited by the fruit of the Golden Delicious variety.

BACKGROUND OF THE DISCOVERY

The discovery which is the subject of this patent involves a new anddistinct apple tree originating as a whole tree sport or mutation in theLucky Badger Orchard, Bray's Road, 5 miles north of Orondo, DouglasCounty, Wash. The new tree variety has been denominated as the "LuckyRose Golden". The new apple tree was discovered in a cultivated area andmore specifically, in an orchard at the above identified locationcontaining trees of the Golden Delicious variety. The orchard in whichthe new variety was discovered was planted in 1964.

Although the newly discovered tree resembles a Golden Delicious tree,its characteristics clearly distinguish from all previously knownvarieties of Golden Delicious trees. The new tree variety is bestdistinguished by its fruit which exhibits a rose-red blush on exposedfruit. The blush is significantly and dramatically deeper red than theblush on apples of Golden Delicious trees which exhibit a blush. Anaverage of 47 percent of fruits exhibit the blushed surface on the LuckyRose Golden variety, compared to less than 5 percent on conventionalGolden Delicious trees. In addition to the distinctive blush, the skinof the fruit of the Lucky Rose golden is lighter in color than fruitfrom Golden Delicious trees which grow in the same orchard where the newtree was discovered. Another characteristic which distinguishes the newvariety is that stems of the apples from the new variety aredistinctively shorter than stems of related apple trees. Furthermore,the leaves of the new tree variety are darker green than leaves ofgolden Delicious apple trees.

The new apple tree variety has been asexually reproduced throughsuccessive generations by budding and grafting at the Lucky BadgerOrchard. The characteristics manifested in the parent tree appear stablein the propagated plants.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a color photograph of the new variety of tree adjacent to aGolden Delicious tree.

FIG. 2. is a color photograph showing a group of apples of the newvariety next to a group of Golden Delicious apples.

FIG. 3(a) is a bar graph comparing the brightness of the skin color ofthe Lucky Rose apple to the Golden Delicious apple.

FIG. 3(b) is a bar graph comparing the green chroma values of the skincolor of the Lucky Rose apple to the Golden Delicious apple.

FIG. 3(c) is a bar graph comparing the yellow chroma values of the skincolor of the Lucky Rose apple to the Golden Delicious apple.

FIG. 4 is a color photograph showing leaves of the Lucky Rose Goldenapple tree variety next to leaves of the Golden Delicious variety.

FIG. 5 is a color photograph which shows the stem of the Lucky RoseGolden variety.

FIG. 6(a) is a bar graph comparing relative pressure characteristics ofthe Lucky Rose apple to the Golden Delicious apple.

FIG. 6(b) is a bar graph comparing relative starch contentcharacteristics of the Lucky Rose apple to the Golden Delicious apple.

FIG. 6(c) is a bar graph comparing relative soluble solidscharacteristics of the Lucky Rose apple to the Golden Delicious apple.

FIG. 6(d) is a bar graph comparing seed color characteristics of theLucky Rose apple to the Golden Delicious apple.

FIG. 7 is a color photograph of flowers of both the Lucky Rose Goldenand the Golden Delicious at the petal-full stage of development.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The applicant believes that the nearest related variety of apple tree tothe discovery is the Golden Delicious variety which exhibits a lightblush on the apples exposed to sunlight. The new tree was found in anorchard which was cultivated with Golden Delicious trees in 1964.Accordingly, the description of the new tree variety is compared andcontrasted with the Golden Delicious variety.

The most distinctive characeristic of the new tree variety is the deepred blush on apples which are exposed to sunlight as best seen inFIG. 1. As the photograph demonstrates, the new tree variety can easilybe distinguished from the Golden Delicious variety (which is shown onthe far right of the photograph) by reference to the red blush on thoseapples which are exposed to sunlight. FIG. 2, which depicts apples ofthe Lucky Rose Golden next to apples from a Golden Delicious, alsohighlights the respective differences in the apples of the twovarieties. The new variety, depicted on the left and identified in FIG.2 as "Lucky Rose", exhibits a siginificantly deeper blush than GoldenDelicious apples. The red pigmented blush area is more intense anddistributed over a larger surface area than the blush area of the GoldenDelicious variety. As best seen in the bottom of the photograph, one candiscern that the skin of the apples of the new variety is lighter incolor than the skin of the Golden Delicious variety.

FIGS. 3(a)-3(c) are bar graphs which chart quantitative data directed atthe respective color differences of fruit from the new tree variety andthe Golden Delicious variety. The data, generated with a Minolta Chromameter CR-200, confirms that the skin of the Lucky Rose Golden varietyremains significantly ligher than the skin of Golden Delicious apple.The graphs tracks samples picked from Aug. 12, 1994 through Sep. 15,1994. The graphs indicate that the skin of apples from Lucky Rose Goldentrees have consistently lower green and yellow chroma values.

FIG. 4 shows leaves of the new variety next to leaves from a GoldenDelicious tree. As the photograph demonstrates, leaves from the LuckyRose Golden variety are preceptably darker than leaves form GoldenDelicious trees. Further analysis comparing the leaves of the Lucky Rosegolden and the Golden Delicious was performed and the data that wasgenerated is set forth in Table 1.

                  TABLE 1                                                         ______________________________________                                                            Lucky                                                                 Golden  Rose     % Delicious                                                  Delicious                                                                             Golden   from Golden                                      ______________________________________                                        Leaf weight (g)*                                                                            0.92      0.65     -29.3                                        Leaf area (sq. cm)*                                                                         35.2      25.3     -28.1                                        Petiole length (mm)*                                                                        26.3      23.9     -8.8                                         Petiole diameter (mm)*                                                                      1.37      1.22     -10.9                                        Leaf color -- upper**                                                                       -0.79     -0.87    10.1                                         Leaf color -- lower**                                                                       -0.61     -0.60    -1.6                                         ______________________________________                                         *Average of 50 leaves at each sampling date.                                  **Minolta Chroma Meter Cr200 ratio of a/b value. Higher ratio means darke     leaf color.                                                              

Table 1 reflects a summary of data where approximately fifty leaves werecollected, measured and weighed on a number of sampling dates andprovides additional quantitative data which distinguish the new varietyfrom the Golden Delicious trees. The data relating to leaf color, isconsistent with a qualitative assessment that the leaves of the new treeare darker than leaves from Golden Delicious Trees. The leaves of thenew variety are generally smaller than the leaves of the GoldenDelicious variety and on average weigh less. Table 1 also sets forthdata relating to the color of the lower surface of the leaf and petiolelength.

As can be seen in FIG. 5, a photograph of the stem of the new variety, afurther distinction between the new variety and the Golden Deliciousvariety is the relative size of the stems of the fruit. On average, thestems of penduncles of the new variety are approximately 33% shorterthan stems of the Golden Delicious variety. The stems of the new varietyare also thicker than stems of the Golden Delicious variety and, as aresult, the fruit attached by the stem are slightly more difficult topick than other apples.

FIG. 7 also highlights the difference in respective sizes of thepeduncles of the Lucky Rose Golden and the golden Delicious trees. TheLucky Rose Golden variety, depicted on the right, have conspicuouslyshorter penduncles than those on the Golden Delicious variety which isset forth on the left.

In addition to the visual differences, the fruit of the new varietydiffers from the Golden Delicious in both composition and consistency.Referring to FIG. 6(a), the pressure or firmness of the new variety issignificantly less than the pressure of the Golden Delicious whenmeasured over a three month period. The pressure data set forth in FIG.6(b) was generated with a Magnass-Taylor pressure tester. Depicted inFIG. 6(c) is a comparison of the relative soluable solids of Lucky RoseGold Delicious apples and conventional Golden Delicious apples. Therelative soluble solids of the new variety compared over a period fromAug. 15, 1994 until Sep. 15, 1994 were consistently less than GoldenDelicious apples. The data set forth in FIG. 6(b) also reflects that asthe apples ripen, the production of starch by the new variety is lessthan the starch content of apples produced by the Golden Deliciousvariety.

The following botanical description further identifies the uniquecharacteristics of the new variety.

BOTANICAL DESCRIPTION

Parentage: Single bud mutation for Golden Delicious, leading to wholetree mutation.

Location of parent tree: Lucky Badger Orchard, Bray's Road, 5 milesnorth of Orondo, Douglas County, Wash., USA.

Date of discovery: October 1987.

Date of fruit maturity: Approximately 7 days before Golden Delicious,using pressure as primary indicator of maturity. May require 2 picks.

Tree: Medium vigor, upright spreading, hardy, productive, annual bearer.

Trunk: Stocky, smooth, gray-green to light brown.

Branches: Spreading, wide angles, medium thick, lenticels cream colored,elongated.

Internodes: Average internode length 22 mm (same as in GoldenDelicious--21.6 mm).

Leaves (primary): Broad, dark green, medium glossy on upper surface,finely pubescent on lower surface (indistinguishable from those ofGolden Delicious).

Length.--70-105 mm.

Width.--45-50 mm.

Petiole.--Medium to long (30-35 mm); thin (1.5-1.7 mm); finelypubescent.

Margins.--Serrate.

Tip.--Sharply pointed.

Stipules (bracts).--Insignificant, borne in pairs opposite, narrow,pointed, 5 mm in length, borne 2 mm from abscission zone.

Color.--#21-14 (upper), #21-11 (lower) (Munsell Limited Color Cascade).

Leaves (secondary): Oval, dark green upper surface, finely pubescentlower surface.

Length.--40-60 mm.

Width.--30-40 mm.

Margins.--Finely serrate.

Tip.--Pointed.

Stipules (bracts).--Identical to primary leaves.

Flowers: Mid-season (full bloom April 18-22 at Orondo, Wash.).

Size.--Medium.

Color.--White.

Stamen.--Single row, anthers bright yellow, turining yellowish brownwith pollen shed.

Pistil.--Stigmas medium, flat at top, rounded at base; styles mediumlong, fused at base.

Sepals.--Medium size, pubescent.

Pollination requirements.--Satisfied by other diploid strains, such asRed Delicious (but not Golden Delicious), Winter Banana, Granny Smith,and commonly used strains of crabapples. No fruit produced fromself-pollination. Pollination trials showed Lucky Rose Golden to be anexcellent pollinizer for Jonagold, Fuji and Gala.

Fruit:

Maturity when described.--Ripe (starch content 4.0-5.0).

Size.--Medium (75 mm) to large (90 mm). Average weight 250 grams.

Form.--Conical with moderate lobes at calyx end.

Cavity.--Round, medium deep; apex acute; breadth 35 mm, depth 18 mm.

Basin (calyx),--Very small, acuminate, slightly furrowed; calyx tightlyclosed, lobes small and converged from base toward center, finelypublescent.

Stem.--Short and moderatly thick--24.6 mm×2.0 mm, compared to GoldenDelicious--36.6 mm×1.7 mm (FIG. 3).

Skin.--Unusually glossy, smooth, without bloom, #29-2 (Munsell LimitedColor Cascade) ground color yellow; overcolor bright pink blush #38-9,most prominent toward shoulder on exposed fruits (FIG. 9); lenticelsincomspicuous, small, widely scattered, no tendency to russet as withGolden Delicious. Greasiness of skin absent; cracking tendency absent;skin thickness medium.

Flesh.--Cream becoming pale glow with advanced maturity, crisp, juicy,tender. Flavor is good, refreshing, but less sweet than that of GoldenDelicious (FIG. 1). No water core.

Aroma.--Mild, with a citrus-like fragrance.

Core.--(longitudinal section) Broadly ovate, symmetrical; (crosssection) round, medium size, seed cells open.

Seeds.--Normally 10-12, 2.1 per cell, medium brown; length 7 mm, width 4mm.

Use: Fresh, dessert.

Storage: Up to 9 months in CA, 4-5 months in regular storage at 32degrees F. (0 degrees C.).

We claim:
 1. The new and distinct variety of apple tree as illustratedand described, characterized by the light skin, an intense blush onexposed areas, a short stem, and a darker leaf than the GoldenDelicious.